VOYAGE DOWN THE COAST. 353 



took any interest in our movements w^ere Dimas, 

 who w^anted to go with us, the woman whom we 

 had dispossessed of the house, and the agent of the 

 canoa, who had no desire to see us again. 



Our canoa was known in the port of Yalahao 

 by the name of El Sol, or the Sun. It was thirty- 

 five feet long and six feet wide at the top, but 

 curving toward the bottom. It carried two large 

 sails, with the peaks held up by heavy poles se- 

 cured at the masts ; had a space of eight or ten 

 feet clear in the stern, and all the rest was filled 

 with luggage, provisions, and water-casks. We had 

 not been on board till the moment of embarcation, 

 and prospects seemed rather unpromising for a 

 month's cruise. There was no wind ; the sails 

 were flapping against the mast ; the sun beat down 

 upon us, and we had no mat or awning of any 

 kind, although the agent had promised one. Our 

 captain was a middle-aged Mestizo, a fisherman, 

 hired for the occasion. 



Under these circumstances we set out on our 

 voyage. It was one which we had determined 

 upon before leaving home, and to which we had al- 

 ways looked forward with interest ; and the precise 

 object we had in view was, in following the track 

 of the Spaniards along this coast, to discover ves- 

 tiges or remains of the great buildings of lime and 

 stone which, according to the historical accounts, 

 surprised and astonished them. 



Vol. IL— Y y 



